Ditkas thrown for a loss in New Orleans

Former Bears head coach and current Gold Coast resident Mike Ditka has finally sold his house in New Orleans, at a $40,000 loss from his purchase price in 1997.

Ditka, who paid $595,000 for the 5,153-square-foot house in the Big Easy's exclusive English Turn neighborhood, sold it for $555,000, fully $230,000 below his first listing price for the house last year.

Interestingly, the outspoken Ditka, who was fired as the New Orleans Saints head coach last year and is now a football analyst both on CBS-TV and on WBBM-Channel 2, had told the New Orleans Times-Picayune last year that he was not considering offers from bargain hunters, and that "if anybody wants to pay what it's worth, I'll sell it. If somebody wants to steal it, tell them to go to hell."

In the end, though, Ditka and his wife, Diana, took a lower bid, because they wanted it off their hands, said listing agent Betty Poche of Prudential Gardner in New Orleans. The Ditkas also suffered from listing their home while there was a glut of high-end homes on the market, Poche said.

"We had an awful lot of homes on the market at that time, and they just weren't selling," Poche said in an interview. "We didn't have replacement buyers coming in."

In an interview with the Times-Picayune, Diana Ditka said the $785,000 listing price reflected $175,000 in improvements, including a therapeutic swimming pool, large fleur-de-lis mirrors and a large curved driveway with brick pavers.

"We took a big loss on the house, a major hit," she told the paper. "It became a big expense for us."

Other features include a double stairway to the master suite, a great room and a 365-square-foot master bedroom. The couple previously had rejected a $500,000 offer for the hose, according to the paper.

Neither Ditka could be reached for comment.

The Ditkas paid $700,000 last year for a condominium in the Olympia Centre building, 161 E. Chicago Ave., which is their primary residence. They also continue to own a condo in Naples, Fla.

- Former Chicago Police Supt. Matt Rodriguez has sold his 10-room Cape Cod in the Oriole Park neighborhood on Chicago's Northwest Side for $280,000.

Rodriguez, who retired under pressure in 1997, has moved to a four-bedroom house he owns in Galena, Ill. He had lived in the Oriole Park home for 28 years, but keeping up both homes in retirement wasn't practical, said listing agent George Nicosia of Baird & Warner's Northwest Side office.

"He loved the neighborhood," Nicosia said. "He's now a private citizen and enjoying it after 38 years in public life."

The three-bedroom house, which was built in 1954, was listed for $279,000. Features include a bay window in the living room, an updated kitchen, two bedrooms on the first floor and a potential in-law arrangement on the second floor, with a second kitchen and a private entrance. "It's a wonderful home that was very well kept up," Nicosia said. "It suited his needs, and it was a nice, modest home for him to raise his family."

Actor Nicolas Cage has listed his four-bedroom, 3,000-square-foot home in Malibu for just under $6 million, according to the Los Angeles Times. The actor is selling because he also has a home in L.A.'s Bel Air area, as well as nearly 400 acres of land in Malibu, which he bought last year for about $10 million, the paper reported ... Meanwhile, across L.A., actor David Spade has listed his six-bedroom, 5,400-square-foot home in a gated community in Beverly Hills for $3.85 million, according to several publications. Spade is selling the home, where his former personal assistant attacked him with a stun gun last November, because he wants a view property with a tennis court, according to the Los Angeles Times. He reportedly is interested in a $4 million property nearby. Spade bought the house, which was built in 1961 and remodeled in 1995, in 1999 for a little over $3 million, according to the Hartford Courant. The house has four fireplaces, a library, and a courtyard that leads to an entry/galleria that overlooks the garden and pool area.

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